Dispensers and Methods of Use Thereof for Dispensing Solid Mosquito Larvicides and Other Materials of Interest

ABSTRACT

Dispenser devices suitable for use on unmanned aerial vehicles are described having utility for dispensing solid larvicides to difficult to reach insect habitats.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/313,679 filed Mar. 25, 2016, the entire disclosure being incorporatedherein as though set forth in full.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the fields of pest control and use of unmannedaerial systems (UAS) to dispense tablets or briquettes to a location ofinterest. In preferred embodiment, the briquettes or tables comprisemosquito controlling and, or eradicating larvicides which are dispensedfrom uniquely adapted dispenser devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Several publications and patent documents are cited throughout thespecification in order to describe the state of the art to which thisinvention pertains. Each of these citations is incorporated herein byreference as though set forth in full.

Population growth and the expansion of urban areas have made modernmosquito control more challenging. Many areas that were once treatedwith larvicides by full-scale aircraft are now inaccessible for suchapplications. What were once large open expanses of marshland are nowpeppered with housing, cell phone towers, and hiking trails. The habitatthat is left still produces mosquitoes but is too small or dangerous fortraditional aerial treatments and inaccessible to ground applications.In addition, environmental restrictions and water quality standards callinto question the practice of blanketing target areas with mosquitolarvicides, when oftentimes only small pools within these areas producemosquitoes.

The present invention addresses a number of the above identifieddrawbacks currently present which prevent or reduce effective mosquitocontrol in affected areas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a rotary dispenser device forreleasing one or more aerially dispersed solid briquettes or pellets, ata location of interest is disclosed. An exemplary dispenser devicecomprises a mount for mounting said device onto an unmanned aerialsystem (UAS), a loading port for loading said briquettes or pellets, alid, a base, said base having an exit port for egress of said briquetteor pellet, said briquettes being loaded onto a carousel disposed withinsaid dispenser, said dispenser comprising a control board for receivinga signal triggering release of said briquettes or pellets upon arrivalof said at said location of interest, said signal causing a servo toadvance the carousel over said exit port thereby releasing saidbriquettes at said location of interest. In a preferred embodiment, thecontrol panel can be activated remotely. A particularly preferred deviceis shown in FIG. 1. In one embodiment, the briquettes or pelletscomprise a larvicide which impairs mosquito breeding ability or islethal to the mosquito. In another embodiment, other solid materials areaerially dispersed.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method for controlling insector mosquito populations at locations of interest is provided. Anexemplary method comprises filling the carousel within the rotarydispenser device described above with one or more briquettes comprisinga larvicide which impairs mosquito breeding ability or kills themosquito, mounting the dispenser onto an unmanned aerial system, flyingthe UAS to a location of interest and activating the control panelcausing the servo to advance the carousel causing briquettes to fall outof said exit port at the location of interest.

In another aspect of the invention, a linear dispenser device forreleasing one or more solid briquettes or tablets at a location ofinterest is provided. A linear dispenser device comprises a body withsupporting arms connected to means (e.g., clips, wire ties, etc) formounting said body onto legs of an unmanned aerial system, said bodycomprising a lid, a hopper for loading said briquettes or tablets, acharge port, indicator lights, an on/off switch, a wire hole, a separateopaque light cover suitable for replacing a clear lens on said UAS and alight sensor suitable for positioning directly below front lights onsaid UAS, wherein the light sensor detects when the front lights of theare on or off, wherein signals from the light sensor are sent to acontrol board comprising software for operation of the UAS, wherein whenthe light is turned off, a control board signals a servo attached to aservo arm to swing a shuttle back allowing a tablet to drop from thehopper, wherein switching the light back on moves the shuttle forward,pushing the tablet out of the mouth of the unit, thereby releasing saidbriquette or tablet at said location of interest. In another embodiment,this order can be reversed, and turning on the switch on signals a servoattached to a servo arm to swing a shuttle back allowing a tablet todrop from the hopper, wherein switching the light back off moves theshuttle forward, pushing the tablet out of the mouth of the unit,thereby releasing said briquette or tablet at said location of interestAn exemplary linear dispenser device is provided in FIG. 2. In aparticularly preferred embodiment, the briquettes or tablets comprise alarvicide which impairs mosquito breeding ability or is lethal to themosquito.

The invention also provides a method for controlling insect or mosquitopopulations at locations of interest using the linear dispenser devicedescribed above. An exemplary method entails filling a hopper within thelinear dispenser device with one or more briquettes comprising alarvicide, mounting said linear dispenser device to an UAS via saidclips, flying said UAS to said location of interest and activating saidcontrol panel by turning the lights of the UAS on and off, therebysending a signal to the control board, wherein when the light is turnedoff, said control board signals a servo attached to a servo arm to swinga shuttle back allowing a tablet to drop from the hopper, whereinswitching the light back on moves the shuttle forward, pushing thetablet out of the mouth of the device, thereby releasing said briquetteor tablet at said location of interest.

In yet another embodiment, a wiring system for controlling any auxiliarydevice attached to a quadcopter is provided. The wiring system comprisesa light sensor wired to a control board which is wired to both a powerboard and a servo with the power board also being wired to a battery(preferably a rechargeable battery) along with a light cover whichcovers a lens on the quadcopter. The system is operated by way of thelight sensor. The light sensor detects when the front lights of thePhantom are turned on or off using the remote control provided with theUAS. Signals from the light sensor are sent to the control board whichruns the software that controls the UAS. When the light is turned off,the control board signals the servo to swing the shuttle back allowing atablet to drop from the hopper. When the light is turned back on, theshuttle moves forward pushing the tablet out of the mouth of the unit.As mentioned above, this order can also be readily reversed.

The opaque light cover replaces the clear lens on the Phantom andpositions the light sensor directly below one of the front lights. In analternative embodiment, rather than replacing the lens, the light coversurrounds the lens eliminating the need to remove it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1D show different views of the rotary dispenser device fordelivering the larvicide containing briquettes of the invention. FIG. 1Ashows the front view where the loading port (1), the mount to theunmanned aerial device (5), the lid (10) and the briquette (15) areshown. FIG. 1B depicts a rear view showing the battery cover (20). FIG.1C shows the bottom view of the device. FIG. 1D is an exploded view ofthe device of the invention showing the loading port (1), the mount (5),lid (10), battery (25), pawl (30), servo (35), control board (40), cover(45), ratchet (50), arm (55), briquette (15), carosel (60), chamber(65), lightening holes (70), base (75) and screw holes (80).

FIGS. 2A-2D show different views of the linear dispenser device fordelivering the larvicide containing briquettes of the invention. FIG. 2Ashows the front side view showing the clip (90) for attaching the deviceto the UAS, indicator lights (95) and on/off switch (100). FIG. 2B showsthe rear view showing the charge port (105) and an arm (110) of thedevice. A stack of solid briquettes or tablets (115) in the hopper (120)is also shown.

FIG. 3 is a wiring diagram for the linear dispenser device providing themeans to dispense the tablets or briquettes by turning the lights on andoff.

FIGS. 4A-4E are photographs depicting a DJI Phantom 4 Quadcopter havinga linear dispensing device mounted thereon. FIG. 4A shows a quadcopterwith a mounted linear dispenser device. FIG. 4B. shows the clips andties used to mount the device to the quadcopter.

FIGS. 4C-4E show the wiring system that enables the operator to releasetablets or briquettes by turning the lights of the quadcopter on andoff.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) offer access to these restricted areas.Aerial pest control with full-scale aircraft is dangerous and crashesare not uncommon. The small size and weight of UAS reduce the risks ofproperty damage or personal injury in the event of a crash.Additionally, onboard sensors and computers allow for completelyautonomous flight reducing the need for extensive training and skilledpilots. And of course UAS are significantly less expensive thefull-scale aircraft. UAS are ideally suited for the precisionapplication of pesticides to small or sensitive areas. Granular orbriquette formulations allow for precise application providing longresidual efficacy against pest insects.

This invention provides two dispenser devices for dispensing mosquitocontrol tablets or briquettes by UAS. The rotary dispenser deviceconsists of a carousel which holds a number of briquettes. Whenactivated, a servo advances the carousel causing one briquette to fallout of an opening in the bottom of the housing. The mechanism can beactivated manually by remote control or tied into the flight controlsystem of the UAS for automatic activation by GPS coordinates. Thelinear dispenser device comprises a body which attaches by clips thatsnap onto the landing legs of the UAS, a body comprising a lid and ahopper, a battery, a light sensor, a light cover, a power board and acontrol board, wherein the light sensor detects when the front lights ofthe UAS are on or off, wherein signals from the light sensor are sent toa control board comprising software for operation of the UAS, whereinwhen the light is turned off, the control board signals a servo to swinga shuttle back allowing a tablet to drop from the hopper, whereinswitching the light back on moves the shuttle forward, pushing thetablet out of the mouth of the unit, thereby releasing said briquette ortablet at said location of interest.

The invention was specifically designed to deliver solid briquettescontaining mosquito larvicides to water bodies. However the inventioncould be adapted to drop other small payloads such as packages, candydrops (popular at remote aircraft events, site markers, beneficialinsect releases, etc.). The dispenser is made of lightweight materials(e.g., plastics, light metals, etc.) to increase flying distance byreducing weight loads.

The invention also provides a wiring system for controlling anyauxiliary device attached to a quadcopter is provided. The wiring systemcomprises a light sensor wired to a control board which is wired to botha power board and a servo with the power board also being wired to abattery (preferably a rechargeable battery) along with a light coverwhich covers a lens on the quadcopter. The system is operated by way ofthe light sensor. While release of larvicide tablets is disclosedherein, the light sensor system could be used to release any item fromthe quadcopter such as a life preserver for example. In this embodiment,the servo could be replaced with a claw that opens and closes to releasethe material, e.g., the life preserver.

This invention offers several advantages over traditional methods ofdispersing mosquito control briquettes. UAS are less expensive topurchase, fly and maintain and have less hazard potential than fullscale aircraft. UAS provide an aerial option when full scale aircraftare not available or in areas where they cannot fly. With thisinvention, mosquito briquettes can be dispersed more quickly and moreaccurately in terms of application rate and application location thanhand applications. The present invention also facilitates delivery toremote areas that are inaccessible from the ground.

The present invention was designed specifically for multi-rotoraircraft, preferably for delivery of mosquito control briquettes.Moreover the dispensers of the invention offer the ability to carry anddisperse multiple payloads whereas other devices only drop one.

Definitions

An “unmanned aerial system (UAS)”, commonly known as a drone, as anunmanned aircraft system (UAS), and also referred by several othernames, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. The flight of s maybe controlled with various kinds of autonomy: either by a given degreeof remote control from an operator, located on the ground or in anothervehicle, or fully autonomously, by onboard computers. Many different sare available and can be purchased commercially on Amazon.com. See forexample, DJI Phantom 4 with 4K video, DJI Inspire 1 Quadcopter v2.0, DJIPhantom 3 Standard with 2.7K Video and 3D Robotics X8-M MappingQuadcopter, 915 mhz 3DR0124. The terms UAS and quadcopter are usedinterchangeably herein.

The term “insect” as used herein means an arthropod in the classInsecta, characterized by six legs, up to four wings, and a chitinousexoskeleton. Mosquito habitats of Aedes albopictus, Anophelesquadrimaculatus and Culex molestus are preferably targeted using the UASof the invention.

The term “site of application” as used herein refers to the locationcomprising the target insect species.

“Solid larvicides” are commercially available and include, withoutlimitation, Altosid XR-Briquets, Natular XRG, Natular T30, SummitMosquito Dunks, Fourstar Briquets, Biopren® 4GR Mosquito Larvicide,Summit 20 pack Mosquito Dunk, Altosid Pro-G Mosquito Larvicide, MosquitoControl by ChemTech LTD, and Pre-strike Mosquito Torpedos.

The following examples are provided to illustrate certain embodiments ofthe invention. They are not intended to limit the invention in any way.

Example I Rotary Dispenser Device and Use Thereof

Mosquitos are carriers of several disease causing pathogens. Some of thecommon diseases transmitted by mosquitos include malaria, dengue,filariasis, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika fever.More than half billion people get sick from mosquito borne illnessesevery year resulting in nearly one million deaths. Accordingly, it ismore critical than ever to develop new methods for mosquito controldelivery means effective to target remote and previously inaccessiblehabitats.

In this example, a rotary dispenser device for delivering solid mosquitocontrol tablets or briquettes is described using an unmanned aerialsystem (UAS). The device consists of a carousel which holds a number ofbriquettes. When activated a servo advances the carousel causing onebriquette to fall out of an opening in the bottom of the housing. Themechanism can be activated manually by remote control or tied into theflight control system of the UAS for automatic activation by GPScoordinates. See FIGS. 1A-1D.

The housing is comprised of a lid (10) and base (21). The lid has anintegrated dovetail mount (5) on top that allows it to be quicklyattached or removed to a corresponding mount on the UAS. There is aloading port (1) on the side where the briquettes (15) are inserted intothe carousel (60) one at a time. The battery housing is molded into thelid (10) and there is a tabbed battery cover (20) that screws or snapsonto the lid (10). The base (21) has an exit port (22) where thebriquettes (15) are released. A pin is molded into the center of thebottom of the base (21) to position the carousel (60) in the center ofthe base (21) and elevate it off the bottom of the base (21) to reducefriction. There are four molded holes (80) around the top of the base(21) for holding the mounting screws.

The carousel (60) consists of eight chambers (65) which hold thebriquettes (15). There are lightening holes (70) in between each chamber(65) to reduce the weight and cost of the carousel (65). In the bottomcenter of the carousel (60) is a small hole which positions the carousel(60) on a pin in the base (21). An axle is molded into the top center ofthe carousel (60). The axle is keyed to lock into the ratchet (50) andis held in place by a screw. The number, size and shape of the chambers(65) can be scaled to accommodate various types of solid mosquitocontrol products. The unit could also be utilized for dispensing otherobjects not related to mosquito control.

A cover (45) is positioned between the lid (10) and base (21). The cover(45) provides mounting locations for all of the internal components andkeeps the briquettes (15) in the carousel (60).

The control board (40) is wired to a radio receiver or the flightcontrol system of the UAS. When the control board (40) receives a signalit causes the servo (35) to rotate a set number of degrees and thenreturn to its original position. The control board (40) regulates thespeed and amount of travel of the servo (35). The rotation of the servo(35) is converted to a linear motion of the arm (55). The arm (55)rotates the ratchet (50) forward one cog. The pawl (30) holds theposition of the ratchet (50) and prevents it from rotating backwards.The arm (55) and pawl (30) are held against the ratchet by springs.There is a momentary switch mounted on the lid (10) that is wired to thecontrol board (40). It allows for manual activation of the servo (35)during loading or unloading of the chambers.

The battery (25) is a rechargeable lithium polymer battery but can be ofany type. The unit can also be powered directly from the UAS powersource to save weight. A power switch on the lid disconnects the batterywhen not in use.

In use, the rotary dispenser device is attached to the UAS by slidingthe mount into a mount on the UAS. The signal wires are plugged into theradio receiver or flight control system.

The dispenser device is powered on by a switch on the lid of the unit.To load the unit, a briquette is dropped through the loading port intothe carousel. Then a button is pressed to advance the carousel oneposition. This process is repeated until the carousel is full. The UAScan then be flown to the target areas. The drop locations can bepre-programmed so that the briquettes are released automaticallyaccording to GPS coordinates. The pilot can also release the briquettesmanually by pressing a button on a radio transmitter. Manual release ofthe briquettes can be aided by a wireless video camera mounted below thebase.

Example II Linear Dispenser Device and Use Thereof

The rotary dispenser device described in Example I delivers tabletswhich are chambered in individual cells in a carousel. As the carouselspins, the tablets are dropped at a site of interest. The presentinventors have also designed a linear dispenser device, where tabletsare stacked vertically and released using a wiring system which istriggerd by turning the UAS lights on and off.

In this embodiment, the body (130) attaches by two clips (90) that snaponto the landing legs of the UAS. See FIGS. 2A-2D. In preferredembodiments, the DJI Phantom Quadcopter is employed. Holes in the clips(90) allow the use of pull ties to secure the unit. The arms (110)support the body (130) and the body houses the electronics. See FIG. 3.The lid (136) slides into the body (130) covering the electronics. Thereis a charge port (105) in the lid (136) that provides access to a USBconnector. The hopper (120), e.g., a 50 ml centrifuge tube, or othercylindrical or shaped receptacle, screws into the body and holds up to15 tablets (115). Other size hoppers can be fitted to hold differentnumbers of tablets. In certain embodiments, the tablets are fed into thebody by gravity. In other embodiments, the tablets could be loaded usinga spring loader.

The unit is operated by way of a light sensor (140). The opaque lightcover (145) replaces the clear lens on the Phantom and positions thelight sensor (140) directly below one of the front lights. In certainembodiments, instead of replacing the lens, the light cover couldsurround the lens eliminating the need to remove it. The light sensor(140) detects when the front lights of the Phantom are on or off. Thelights are turned on and off by the remote control. Signals from thelight sensor (140) are sent to the control board (150). The controlboard (150) runs the software that controls the unit. When the light isturned off, the control board (150) signals the servo (155) attached tothe servo arm (156) to swing the shuttle (160) back allowing a tablet(115) to drop from the hopper (120). When the light is turned back on,the shuttle (160) moves forward, pushing the tablet (115) out of themouth (135) of the unit.

The unit is powered by a rechargeable battery (165). The battery (165)connects to the power board (170). The power board (170) regulates thevoltage from the battery (165) and charges the battery when connected toa USB charge adapter. Regulated voltage from the power board (170)powers the control board (150) and servo (155). There is an on/offswitch (100) on the power board (170) to shut the system down when notin use. Indicator lights (95) on the control board (150) provideinformation on the power and charge status of the battery. The lightsensor (140) is powered through the control board (150).

In use, the unit is attached to the landing legs of the Phantom by theclips (90). See FIGS. 4A-4C. One of the lenses on the front lights isremoved and replaced by the light cover/sensor unit as shown in FIGS. 4Dand 4E. One of the switches on the Phantom remote control is programmedin the flight control software to control the front lights. The unit ispowered on after the Phantom is prepared for flight. The pilot uses thelive video image from the Phantom camera to locate target areas. Whennear the area, the camera in tilted straight down to see what is belowthe Phantom. When directly over the target area, the front lights areturned off with the button on the remote control. This causes a tabletto drop into the mouth. The operator presses the button again to turn onthe lights and the tablet is pushed out of the mouth. The video imageinforms the operator if the tablet landed in the intended location. Theprocess is repeated until all of the target areas are treated or theunit runs out of tablets. The unit can be quickly reloaded by simplyreplacing the empty hopper with a full one. The unit is charged byplugging the power board into any 5V USB charger such as a cell phonecharger or computer USB port. While the basic design of the lineardispenser device depicts a cylindrical hopper and round tablets, theunit can be modified to work with other size hoppers and shapes oftablets. For example, the hopper could be square in shape and thetablets cuboidal, to fit a hopper so configured.

While the described invention has been described with reference to thespecific embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may besubstituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of theinvention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation, material, composition of matter, process, processstep or steps, to the objective, spirit and scope of the describedinvention. All such modifications are intended to be within the scope ofthe claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rotary dispenser device for releasing one ormore solid briquettes or tablets at a location of interest, comprising amount for mounting said device onto an unmanned aerial system (UAS), alid, a loading port for loading said briquettes or tablets, a base, saidbase having an exit port for egress of said briquette or tablet, saidbriquettes or tablets being loaded onto a carousel disposed within saiddispenser, said dispenser comprising a control board for receiving asignal triggering release of said briquettes or tablets upon arrival ofsaid UAS at said location of interest, said signal causing a servo toadvance the carousel over said exit port thereby releasing saidbriquettes or tablets at said location of interest.
 2. The rotarydispenser device of claim 1, wherein said control panel can be activatedremotely.
 3. The rotary dispenser device of claim 1 as shown in FIG. 1.4. The rotary dispenser device of claim 1, wherein said briquettes orpellets comprise a larvicide which impairs mosquito breeding ability oris lethal to the mosquito.
 5. A method for controlling insect ormosquito populations at locations of interest, comprising: filling acarousel within the rotary dispenser device of claim 1 with one or morebriquettes or tablets comprising a larvicide which impairs mosquitobreeding ability or is lethal to the mosquito, mounting said dispenserto an UAS, flying said UAS to said location of interest and activatingsaid control panel causing said servo to advance the carousel causingbriquettes to fall out of said exit port at said location of interest,thereby releasing said larvicide and controlling insect or mosquitopopulations at said location of interest.
 6. A linear dispenser devicefor releasing one or more solid briquettes or tablets at a location ofinterest, comprising a body with supporting arms connected to means formounting said body onto legs of an unmanned aerial system (UAS), saidbody comprising a lid, a hopper for loading said briquettes or tablets,a charge port, indicator lights, an on/off switch, a wire hole, aseparate opaque light cover suitable for replacing a clear lens on saidUAS and a light sensor suitable for positioning directly below frontlights on said UAS, wherein the light sensor detects when the frontlights of the are on or off, wherein signals from the light sensor aresent to a control board comprising software for operation of the UAS,wherein when the light is turned off, a control board signals a servoattached to a servo arm to swing a shuttle back allowing a briquette ortablet to drop from the hopper, wherein switching the light back onmoves the shuttle forward, pushing the tablet out of the mouth of theunit, thereby releasing said briquette or tablet at said location ofinterest.
 7. The linear dispenser device of claim 6 as shown in FIG. 2.8. The linear dispenser of claim 6, wherein said briquettes or tabletscomprise a larvicide which impairs mosquito breeding ability or islethal to the mosquito.
 9. A method for controlling insect or mosquitopopulations at locations of interest, comprising: filling a hopperwithin the dispenser device of claim 8 with one or more briquettescomprising a larvicide which impairs mosquito breeding ability, mountingsaid linear dispenser device to an UAS via said clips, flying said UASto said location of interest and activating said control panel byturning the lights of the on and off, thereby sending a signal to thecontrol board wherein when the light is turned off, said control boardsignals a servo attached to a servo arm to swing a shuttle back allowinga tablet to drop from the hopper, wherein switching the light back onmoves the shuttle forward, pushing the tablet out of the mouth of thedevice, thereby releasing said briquette or tablet at said location ofinterest.
 10. A wiring system for controlling an auxiliary deviceattached to a quadcopter comprising a light sensor wired to a controlboard which is wired to a power board, and a servo, the power board alsobeing wired to a battery, said system also comprising a light cover forcovering a lens on the quadcopter.
 11. A linear dispenser devicecomprising the wiring system of claim 10.